So we keep hearing that Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin are the same, that if Palin entered the presidential race she would take away from Mr. Bachmann. As an independent here is my thoughts on the two women who would be president (all jokes about them aside), here is how I think they compare and why they are not even close to being the same.
Mrs. Bachmann has served the people who elected her into office while Mrs. Palin quit on the people of Alaska to jump on a bus and make millions of dollars. While I don’t agree with most of what Bachmann represents she stands by her beliefs and even when the world is against her she will not budge on those beliefs no matter how far out they are. Sarah Palin while she has her beliefs has no problems changing them to fit what she thinks the people want to hear or even worse just so she can say that she is against what the President believes. On this issue Mrs. Bachmann is hands down the winner.
I am not a religious person but having quit my job and giving up everything I own to take care of my disabled father the last 8 years there is nothing more important in my mind then family. While I can not judge these two women on what they believe and how Christ like they are I can look at how they treat their own family. Michele Bachmann has raised her own kids and has had several foster children, while she likes to point this out she does not parade them on stage or whore them out in hopes of getting votes. Half term Gov. Sarah Palin has no problem using her children as props and parading them out in front of the world, while I’m sure she loves her children it looks like they are more important to her as pawns in her game of politics. Michele Bachman is hands down the better person here again.
How do they stack up when it comes to being a team player? Michele Bachman announced she is running for president and has stood toe to toe with the likes of Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul etc. Mrs. Palin has danced around and instead of fighting for the republicans she has don her best to destroy them. When Mitt Romney announced he was running she made sure to be in the same state and steal all the news from him, again when Perry decided he was running she jumped back on the bus and tried stealing his headlines. This make her a media whore and not a team player by any ones definition.
I doubt Sarah Palin will run for president but she can not announce it yet while there is attention to be grabbed and money to be made. Mrs. Palin is all about Mrs. Palin and doesn’t care who she ruins or steals the spotlight from. She will run out the clock then hold the candidates hostage to get her support again making it all about me, me, me. Say what you want about Michele Bachmann policies or her obvious dislike for gay people and the poor but she is a team player and by far and away the better politician and better person then Sarah Palin.
Would she get my vote? Hell no but as a politician and someone who sticks to her guns I respect Mrs. Bachmann and respect is something Mrs. Palin will never have from me.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
OBAMA DOCTRINE
After the September 11th attacks on America we where given the Bush Doctrine which we led us into decade long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and cost tens of thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.
We invaded Afghanistan because that is where Osama Bin Laden was supposed to be, forgetting that most of the people who attacked us where from Saudi Arabia and that they actually planned the attacks in Germany and trained here in America. Then the decision was made to invade Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein who was seen as a threat to America and after all the reason for us to invade where proven false the Bush administration stood behind their invasion saying that Hussein was a bad man and had to go.
The two wars have cost America trillions of dollars, thousands of American deaths and over fifty thousand Americans who will be permanently injured from these two wars.
Enter 2009 and the rise of Barack Obama and his form of talking to the enemy and only use soldiers if it’s the last option. This idea got him called weak on foreign policy and a threat to the American way of life. Since President Obama has taken office we have seen one dictator overthrown and another about to be ousted and all without America putting any boots on the ground or soldiers in harms way.
The man who the right wing fox news calls weak on terror and a threat to America has also killed the most wanted man in the world, and he did it without invading another country. Upon learning that Bin Laden was in Pakistan President Obama decided to send in a small Navy Seals team to take him dead or alive, on May 2nd 2011 word broke that Osama Bin laden had been killed, that’s right the most wanted man was dead and it didn’t take a large military or trillions of dollars.
When the people of Egypt started to rise up against their leader instead of invading we gave them our support and called for Hosni Mubarak to step down. After a battle with his people President Mubarak was ousted from office and the Egyptian people rose up and took their country.
Enter Libya and it’s dictator Colonel Qaddafi, when the people started to rise up he used the military to push them back down. After it was obvious that Qaddafi had no compassion for human life the United States and rest of the world stepped in with military air support to aide the rebels and as of August 21st 2011 it looks like the people of Libya are about to take their country back and over throw the dictator that has kept them in fear all these years. That is a second country that has fought for their own freedom both without the cost of American lives.
So in 3 years in office we have seen the Obama Doctrine which is more about humanitarian military invasion then all out war. Support the people who rise up against dictators and assist them in any way possible instead of putting hundreds of thousands of troops in harms way. President Obama like many of us know you can not impose a democracy at the point of a gun like the Republicans tried to do in the early years of this decade. The proof is in the results after 8 years of using a strong military presence Iraq and Afghanistan are in no better shape today then they where before 2001 and could be in worse shape, while at the same time Egypt and Libya are becoming free nations.
So given the choice of all out invasion and spending trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives or aiding the people who are willing to fight for their own independence and freedom the answer is obvious and the results speak for themselves. In 3 years Bin Laden is dead, Egypt and Libya where countries taken back by their own people who where willing to die for freedom and all without the loss of one American life. Wish we could say the same for Iraq and Afghanistan who are both still not only in bad shape but appear to be ready for civil wars when we do bring out troops home.
I think the choice is obvious and only hope future leaders will see this as a time when America stood up and decided we are not the worlds police but if the people decide they have had enough America will always stand on the side of democracy and freedom, just not at the end of a gun.
We invaded Afghanistan because that is where Osama Bin Laden was supposed to be, forgetting that most of the people who attacked us where from Saudi Arabia and that they actually planned the attacks in Germany and trained here in America. Then the decision was made to invade Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein who was seen as a threat to America and after all the reason for us to invade where proven false the Bush administration stood behind their invasion saying that Hussein was a bad man and had to go.
The two wars have cost America trillions of dollars, thousands of American deaths and over fifty thousand Americans who will be permanently injured from these two wars.
Enter 2009 and the rise of Barack Obama and his form of talking to the enemy and only use soldiers if it’s the last option. This idea got him called weak on foreign policy and a threat to the American way of life. Since President Obama has taken office we have seen one dictator overthrown and another about to be ousted and all without America putting any boots on the ground or soldiers in harms way.
The man who the right wing fox news calls weak on terror and a threat to America has also killed the most wanted man in the world, and he did it without invading another country. Upon learning that Bin Laden was in Pakistan President Obama decided to send in a small Navy Seals team to take him dead or alive, on May 2nd 2011 word broke that Osama Bin laden had been killed, that’s right the most wanted man was dead and it didn’t take a large military or trillions of dollars.
When the people of Egypt started to rise up against their leader instead of invading we gave them our support and called for Hosni Mubarak to step down. After a battle with his people President Mubarak was ousted from office and the Egyptian people rose up and took their country.
Enter Libya and it’s dictator Colonel Qaddafi, when the people started to rise up he used the military to push them back down. After it was obvious that Qaddafi had no compassion for human life the United States and rest of the world stepped in with military air support to aide the rebels and as of August 21st 2011 it looks like the people of Libya are about to take their country back and over throw the dictator that has kept them in fear all these years. That is a second country that has fought for their own freedom both without the cost of American lives.
So in 3 years in office we have seen the Obama Doctrine which is more about humanitarian military invasion then all out war. Support the people who rise up against dictators and assist them in any way possible instead of putting hundreds of thousands of troops in harms way. President Obama like many of us know you can not impose a democracy at the point of a gun like the Republicans tried to do in the early years of this decade. The proof is in the results after 8 years of using a strong military presence Iraq and Afghanistan are in no better shape today then they where before 2001 and could be in worse shape, while at the same time Egypt and Libya are becoming free nations.
So given the choice of all out invasion and spending trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives or aiding the people who are willing to fight for their own independence and freedom the answer is obvious and the results speak for themselves. In 3 years Bin Laden is dead, Egypt and Libya where countries taken back by their own people who where willing to die for freedom and all without the loss of one American life. Wish we could say the same for Iraq and Afghanistan who are both still not only in bad shape but appear to be ready for civil wars when we do bring out troops home.
I think the choice is obvious and only hope future leaders will see this as a time when America stood up and decided we are not the worlds police but if the people decide they have had enough America will always stand on the side of democracy and freedom, just not at the end of a gun.
Friday, August 19, 2011
A view from the bottom
I keep hearing about the rich and how they are job creators and have it rough, I can tell you the roughest job in the world is working retail. People behind the counter often get made fun of and treated like crap but I can tell you they are mostly saints and can guarantee that most of the people who look down on them could not do the job.
In my almost 10 years of working retail stores with two different companies I had to deal with a lot, the politics in a work place like that are worse then they are in Washington. You can work your ass off harder then anyone else but if you are not friends with the right people it doesn’t matter. Promotions in retail settings are not by how hard you work but by who the manager is friends with (or sleeping with). No matter how bad the customer is acting or treating you it doesn’t matter, you are just supposed to grin and take it because “the customer is always right”. I saw a lot in my time working with the public including fights, racism, ignorance etc. especially after 9/11/2001 when people thought it was ok to give Muslims a hard time.
I had been working in the store from 2pm till 9pm then taking care of my disabled father from 10p till noon so on a good day I would get an hour sleep, which isn’t good when you deal with the public. One day after not sleeping I decided not to work the register and work in the food area but after no one else would wait on customers I took it upon myself. After waiting on all the customers I went off and told the people I was working with what I really thought of them and they should be ashamed of themselves for ignoring the customers. When the story got retold to the manager it was all my fault and I was the only one who got in trouble, I gave my two weeks notice on the spot and went back to work.
With my notice in I decided there was no point in acting nice and that’s when I had the most fun at work and realized how freeing it was to not hide what you really think. One day a women came in and bought a pack of Cigs and some lottery tickets with her food stamp card (the cash advance side) then told her daughter she could not have a drink because they didn’t have the money. I went and got the kid a drink and paid for it, when the mother yelled at me I just told her “My tax dollars paid for your cigs and lottery so why can’t I pay for the kid a drink” she complained to the corporate boss and I got in trouble.
Next time you go into a restaurant, convenient store or any retail outlet please be nice to the person behind the counter, they have to deal with a lot of stuff during the day and don’t need any extra stress. Imagine if you had to deal with 1,000 people a day most of which thought you where beneath them and not worth the time of day. I can tell you from experience that this is a hard job and should be respected, it’s people like this, teachers, police, fireman who make this country great not the people of Wall Street or CEOs who are more concerned about money then humans.
In my almost 10 years of working retail stores with two different companies I had to deal with a lot, the politics in a work place like that are worse then they are in Washington. You can work your ass off harder then anyone else but if you are not friends with the right people it doesn’t matter. Promotions in retail settings are not by how hard you work but by who the manager is friends with (or sleeping with). No matter how bad the customer is acting or treating you it doesn’t matter, you are just supposed to grin and take it because “the customer is always right”. I saw a lot in my time working with the public including fights, racism, ignorance etc. especially after 9/11/2001 when people thought it was ok to give Muslims a hard time.
I had been working in the store from 2pm till 9pm then taking care of my disabled father from 10p till noon so on a good day I would get an hour sleep, which isn’t good when you deal with the public. One day after not sleeping I decided not to work the register and work in the food area but after no one else would wait on customers I took it upon myself. After waiting on all the customers I went off and told the people I was working with what I really thought of them and they should be ashamed of themselves for ignoring the customers. When the story got retold to the manager it was all my fault and I was the only one who got in trouble, I gave my two weeks notice on the spot and went back to work.
With my notice in I decided there was no point in acting nice and that’s when I had the most fun at work and realized how freeing it was to not hide what you really think. One day a women came in and bought a pack of Cigs and some lottery tickets with her food stamp card (the cash advance side) then told her daughter she could not have a drink because they didn’t have the money. I went and got the kid a drink and paid for it, when the mother yelled at me I just told her “My tax dollars paid for your cigs and lottery so why can’t I pay for the kid a drink” she complained to the corporate boss and I got in trouble.
Next time you go into a restaurant, convenient store or any retail outlet please be nice to the person behind the counter, they have to deal with a lot of stuff during the day and don’t need any extra stress. Imagine if you had to deal with 1,000 people a day most of which thought you where beneath them and not worth the time of day. I can tell you from experience that this is a hard job and should be respected, it’s people like this, teachers, police, fireman who make this country great not the people of Wall Street or CEOs who are more concerned about money then humans.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
FAIR AND BALANCED MYTH
"Fair and Balanced" is the tag line for one of the highest rated "news" networks in America, but is it true?
Since they where the first network to call the 2000 presidential election for George W. Bush after most Americans went to bed believing that Al Gore would be the president of the United States Fox News has seen their ratings grow as well as their critics. Those on the left believe Fox is owned by the republican party and will lie, cheat and steal to destroy democrats but is this true?
Can you call yourself a “news” network when you not only fire an employee for refusing to go along with a lie and made up story but then fighting in court for the right to make up the “news”. That’s what happened in Florida where a Fox affiliate went tp court against a whistleblower and argued they had the right to not tell the truth and make up news. In the end the whistleblower lost and the court ruled in favor of Fox saying the Federal Communications Commission position against news distortion is only a “policy,” not a promulgated law, rule, or regulation. So they had their day in court and claimed the first amendment gave them the right to lie on the news and the court agreed with them. There goes the honest “news” network.
“Fair and Balanced” is their mantra but is it true? That is the easiest question to answer, just watch their network for a couple hours and unless you are watching Shepard Smith, it’s easy to see that the network is FAR from fair and even less balanced. Look at some of the lies that they keep telling over and over and allow their guests to say without ever correcting them, some of the worst ones are.
Obama is a Muslim - this has been repeated by many hosts/guests for years and who can forget the “terrorist fist bump”
Obama wasn’t born in America - this was covered for the first couple years and none of the people on Fox would ever challenge their guests on the facts.
Eric Bolling said that terrorists attacks didn’t happen before Obama and that “he doesn’t remember any terrorist attacks between 2000-2008” guess 9/11 didn’t happen
The network often points out that President Obama is Black including having Dana Perino say "This White House, of all White Houses should not be making fun of (John) Boehner's tan.” Meaning What?
I don’t remember them attacking Sarah Palin for quitting her job half way through or calling her out on any of the lies she told, no they give her a job and never challenge her on any of her lies. You never hear them calling out Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann or anyone else but they spend all day spewing republican talking points and attacking President Obama on Race, Religion or anything he does.
The biggest lie they spread is that the media is liberal and they are the balance, all you have to do is turn on CNN or MSNBC and you will see both sides of the story, it is common for NBC anchors attacking the democrats if they do not agree with them which is something you will not see Fox News doing, they don’t attack republicans they give them jobs.
Bottom line is simple
IF you think Fox News is fair and the rest are liberal then it’s obvious you support the tea party and have never voted for anyone other then republicans. Maybe you should spend some time learning the real facts not the fox facts
Since they where the first network to call the 2000 presidential election for George W. Bush after most Americans went to bed believing that Al Gore would be the president of the United States Fox News has seen their ratings grow as well as their critics. Those on the left believe Fox is owned by the republican party and will lie, cheat and steal to destroy democrats but is this true?
Can you call yourself a “news” network when you not only fire an employee for refusing to go along with a lie and made up story but then fighting in court for the right to make up the “news”. That’s what happened in Florida where a Fox affiliate went tp court against a whistleblower and argued they had the right to not tell the truth and make up news. In the end the whistleblower lost and the court ruled in favor of Fox saying the Federal Communications Commission position against news distortion is only a “policy,” not a promulgated law, rule, or regulation. So they had their day in court and claimed the first amendment gave them the right to lie on the news and the court agreed with them. There goes the honest “news” network.
“Fair and Balanced” is their mantra but is it true? That is the easiest question to answer, just watch their network for a couple hours and unless you are watching Shepard Smith, it’s easy to see that the network is FAR from fair and even less balanced. Look at some of the lies that they keep telling over and over and allow their guests to say without ever correcting them, some of the worst ones are.
Obama is a Muslim - this has been repeated by many hosts/guests for years and who can forget the “terrorist fist bump”
Obama wasn’t born in America - this was covered for the first couple years and none of the people on Fox would ever challenge their guests on the facts.
Eric Bolling said that terrorists attacks didn’t happen before Obama and that “he doesn’t remember any terrorist attacks between 2000-2008” guess 9/11 didn’t happen
The network often points out that President Obama is Black including having Dana Perino say "This White House, of all White Houses should not be making fun of (John) Boehner's tan.” Meaning What?
I don’t remember them attacking Sarah Palin for quitting her job half way through or calling her out on any of the lies she told, no they give her a job and never challenge her on any of her lies. You never hear them calling out Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann or anyone else but they spend all day spewing republican talking points and attacking President Obama on Race, Religion or anything he does.
The biggest lie they spread is that the media is liberal and they are the balance, all you have to do is turn on CNN or MSNBC and you will see both sides of the story, it is common for NBC anchors attacking the democrats if they do not agree with them which is something you will not see Fox News doing, they don’t attack republicans they give them jobs.
Bottom line is simple
IF you think Fox News is fair and the rest are liberal then it’s obvious you support the tea party and have never voted for anyone other then republicans. Maybe you should spend some time learning the real facts not the fox facts
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Tea Party Response
Yes I am the one who posted the joke "Breaking News S&P downgrades tea party to KK+", it has been repeated a few times even got a mention on Countdown with Keith Olberman. After the post I got a few DMs from some unhappy republicans/tea party members and rather then respond to them I will make one response.
Do I think the Tea Party is racist? No, not very bright in a lot of cases but not racist. That being said it doesn't help when David Duke wants to run for president as a tea party member and you have the CofCC organize and attend Tea Party events and you have people like Russel Pearce a tea party leader and congressman standing arm in arm with a chairman of the Neo Nazi movement in Arizona. These are not proof that the Tea Party movement is the Klan but it doesn't help.
Now my thoughts on the Tea Party itself, it's a disgrace that you would corrupt on of the most historical events in American history for your right wing political agenda. The tea part of the 1770's was not all about lower taxes and less government but then again hearing seniors of the Tea Party tell government to keep their hands off my medicare so I am not surprised. I've also seen a few tea party members say like the original tea party they just want us to follow the US constitution, that's news to me and I really don't know what to say.
The original tea party was all about what is good for America, they knew we needed taxes and that companies like the east india tea company having a monopoly where a bad thing, they wanted what was best for America and where willing to put their lives on the line to fight for those beliefs. The "tea party" of today wants no taxes and no government and believes that business should be free to do as they please even if it means buying politicians. Todays tea party doesn't care about America all they care about is themselves and aren't willing to give up even 3% of their income to rebuild failing roads and bridges or putting their neighbor back to work let alone help the sick. I doubt there is any member of the tea party willing to put their lives on the line for this great country and if they "say" they are then ask them why they would die for America but refuse to even give one cent more to help America?
When a bridge falls and people die or when someone who can be cured of their disease is forced to lay down and die so their family doesn't lose everything I blame you, when the country almost goes under because you do not know that a debt ceiling is to pay bills we owe and tell lies that it's for Obama to spend more I blame you. You can only preach so much hate before it will blow up in your face, you are doing your best to help make sure that Osama Bin Ladens dream of America crashing and burning will come true.
So do I believe you are racist, probably not, uneducated? probably, Terrorists no better then Bin Laden? HELL YES
Do I think the Tea Party is racist? No, not very bright in a lot of cases but not racist. That being said it doesn't help when David Duke wants to run for president as a tea party member and you have the CofCC organize and attend Tea Party events and you have people like Russel Pearce a tea party leader and congressman standing arm in arm with a chairman of the Neo Nazi movement in Arizona. These are not proof that the Tea Party movement is the Klan but it doesn't help.
Now my thoughts on the Tea Party itself, it's a disgrace that you would corrupt on of the most historical events in American history for your right wing political agenda. The tea part of the 1770's was not all about lower taxes and less government but then again hearing seniors of the Tea Party tell government to keep their hands off my medicare so I am not surprised. I've also seen a few tea party members say like the original tea party they just want us to follow the US constitution, that's news to me and I really don't know what to say.
The original tea party was all about what is good for America, they knew we needed taxes and that companies like the east india tea company having a monopoly where a bad thing, they wanted what was best for America and where willing to put their lives on the line to fight for those beliefs. The "tea party" of today wants no taxes and no government and believes that business should be free to do as they please even if it means buying politicians. Todays tea party doesn't care about America all they care about is themselves and aren't willing to give up even 3% of their income to rebuild failing roads and bridges or putting their neighbor back to work let alone help the sick. I doubt there is any member of the tea party willing to put their lives on the line for this great country and if they "say" they are then ask them why they would die for America but refuse to even give one cent more to help America?
When a bridge falls and people die or when someone who can be cured of their disease is forced to lay down and die so their family doesn't lose everything I blame you, when the country almost goes under because you do not know that a debt ceiling is to pay bills we owe and tell lies that it's for Obama to spend more I blame you. You can only preach so much hate before it will blow up in your face, you are doing your best to help make sure that Osama Bin Ladens dream of America crashing and burning will come true.
So do I believe you are racist, probably not, uneducated? probably, Terrorists no better then Bin Laden? HELL YES
Friday, August 12, 2011
Solutions for America
While I don't expect politicians to take their job serious if they want a plan that will upset everyone at the same time have things that make everyone happy here is my plan to fix America (yes it is broken).
TAXES
This is the easiest thing to fix, first personal taxes
Take income - subtract 20K dollars that is what you owe taxes on, no deductions and no credits
Stock options count as income, otherwise stock purchase/sales are not taxed
Stock dividends are counted as income
New tax rates
0$-50K$ = 5%
50K-100K = 10%
100K - 250K = 15%
250K - 5Million = 20%
5Million and up 25%
Corporate taxes are even easier, take your profits no deductions and no credits and lower the rate to
18% if more then 60% of workforce is outside the country
15% if More then 60% of workforce is in America
Inheritance tax 20% on cash/stock over 1 million dollars homes, property etc. excluded for tax
ENTITLEMENTS
Medicaid - do away with, there is no need for this program
Medicare - Expand it to any American who chooses to buy in for 6% of their income for person or 8% for family, kids of people making less then 20K a year are included for free. Seniors with net worths over 500K dollars have the option to opt out with the agreement they can not buy back in when they get sick. Adding millions of healthy people to the role will help pay the bills for the sick/disabled
Prescription program -allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to save the American people money
Welfare - put a 2 year cap on the program, every person deserves the help for their first child or if they lose their job but we should not be paying for people to keep having children or who choose not to work. You receive assistance for the first child but if you choose to have another one the responsibilty is on you.
Social Security - raise the cap that SS "taxes" are paid from 100K to 1Million, means test and anyone worth over 1 million dollars or who chooses not to receive SS will not get any gov. help. Slowly raise the retirement age for HEALTHY people by 3 months a year after 2035 until it reaches the life expectancy - 10 years.
Cutting Spending
Military - 5% decrease in military spending each year for next 4 years, after 2013 when a politician votes to go to war they must also approve a 10% war tax to pay for it, if we are going to use the military then every American must be willing to make sacrifices.
Dept of Homeland Security - would do away with the program, allow the CIA, FBI etc to do their jobs and appoint the VP as the head of national defense who can be the go between with all the federal agencies when there is a problem or threat. DHS is a huge waste of money and was only created because one administration couldn't put 2 and 2 together.
Dept. of Education - would do away with the federal version and allow the states to handle their own departments, put more pressure on the states to solver their education problems.
Cut 3% from EVERY government program and use it to rebuild America, put it aside so that it can be used to rebuild roads, bridges, electric lines etc. both putting people back to work and helping make America great again.
POLITICIANS
Put a cap on money they are allowed to use for travel, dinner, rent etc before they have to pay out of their own pockets, Cut their paid staff by 15% and limit the amount of employees they can have.
ANY raise or change in benefits MUST be voted on by the American people, they work for us so we get to decide if they get a raise or no.
Those are just some of the simple yet painfull solutions they can do, not many people would be happy but I believe it would really change the direction of America
TAXES
This is the easiest thing to fix, first personal taxes
Take income - subtract 20K dollars that is what you owe taxes on, no deductions and no credits
Stock options count as income, otherwise stock purchase/sales are not taxed
Stock dividends are counted as income
New tax rates
0$-50K$ = 5%
50K-100K = 10%
100K - 250K = 15%
250K - 5Million = 20%
5Million and up 25%
Corporate taxes are even easier, take your profits no deductions and no credits and lower the rate to
18% if more then 60% of workforce is outside the country
15% if More then 60% of workforce is in America
Inheritance tax 20% on cash/stock over 1 million dollars homes, property etc. excluded for tax
ENTITLEMENTS
Medicaid - do away with, there is no need for this program
Medicare - Expand it to any American who chooses to buy in for 6% of their income for person or 8% for family, kids of people making less then 20K a year are included for free. Seniors with net worths over 500K dollars have the option to opt out with the agreement they can not buy back in when they get sick. Adding millions of healthy people to the role will help pay the bills for the sick/disabled
Prescription program -allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to save the American people money
Welfare - put a 2 year cap on the program, every person deserves the help for their first child or if they lose their job but we should not be paying for people to keep having children or who choose not to work. You receive assistance for the first child but if you choose to have another one the responsibilty is on you.
Social Security - raise the cap that SS "taxes" are paid from 100K to 1Million, means test and anyone worth over 1 million dollars or who chooses not to receive SS will not get any gov. help. Slowly raise the retirement age for HEALTHY people by 3 months a year after 2035 until it reaches the life expectancy - 10 years.
Cutting Spending
Military - 5% decrease in military spending each year for next 4 years, after 2013 when a politician votes to go to war they must also approve a 10% war tax to pay for it, if we are going to use the military then every American must be willing to make sacrifices.
Dept of Homeland Security - would do away with the program, allow the CIA, FBI etc to do their jobs and appoint the VP as the head of national defense who can be the go between with all the federal agencies when there is a problem or threat. DHS is a huge waste of money and was only created because one administration couldn't put 2 and 2 together.
Dept. of Education - would do away with the federal version and allow the states to handle their own departments, put more pressure on the states to solver their education problems.
Cut 3% from EVERY government program and use it to rebuild America, put it aside so that it can be used to rebuild roads, bridges, electric lines etc. both putting people back to work and helping make America great again.
POLITICIANS
Put a cap on money they are allowed to use for travel, dinner, rent etc before they have to pay out of their own pockets, Cut their paid staff by 15% and limit the amount of employees they can have.
ANY raise or change in benefits MUST be voted on by the American people, they work for us so we get to decide if they get a raise or no.
Those are just some of the simple yet painfull solutions they can do, not many people would be happy but I believe it would really change the direction of America
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Who killed the American Dream
What is the American dream? As a child we would jump in the car and take a family vacation to Sea World or Cedar Point, it was the one time of year where we could all be together and not have any worries. That was about 30 years ago when the dream was to own a home, have a car and raise a family, it seems like a lifetime ago, forget owning a home or family vacations, today you are lucky if you can afford to die without leaving a huge financial hit to your family.
So when did it all change? The answer to that question is simple, about 30 years ago America elected the worst president in the great history of our country. His decisions would lead to the destruction of the middle class and his terrible choices would be felt for years to come. In 1980 the people of this great country decided to elect Ronald Reagan, a charismatic leader who they thought could put America back on the right track. While he made many, many mistakes here are just a few that would change the course of our history forever.
Trickle down economics, he gave huge tax cuts to the richest Americans with the belief that they would pass the money around. While the theory was sound he didn’t account for greed and instead of passing the money around the rich just used it to get richer while the poor suffered. For 30 year the working class and poor have stayed that way while the rich just keep getting richer. With the price of everything going up Americans could no longer afford to have only one parent work and the Nuclear family was destroyed, now both parents had to work just to be able to lead the same lifestyle that they led just 10 years earlier. The tax breaks blew a huge hole in the money the government received causing America to become a debt nation.
While the economic policy was a nail in the coffin of the American middle class his foreign policy while applauded at the time would come back to bite him and the rest of the world in the ass. While he is credited with the downfall of the Soviet Union many educated people think they where on the verge of falling and he was just lucky enough to be the man in charge when it happened. While he spent trillions of dollars that the government didn’t have to build the biggest army in the world he was afraid to use it and that to would come back to haunt us. Again here are just a few of his foreign policy decisions that effect us today.
He cut and ran from Lebanon when soldiers started to die, showing the world that we where weak and that when push came to shove we would cut and run. President Reagan then oversaw the sale of weapons to Iran, the money from the sale was then funded into terrorists hands, making one wonder if the weapons Iran is giving to people killing Americans are the same weapons that Mr. Reagan put in their hands? While those events where bad, his worst decisions wouldn’t be felt for years after he left office.
Iraq was becoming a threat to it’s own people and the people in the middle east, after attacks on his own people the world wanted Saddam Hussein out of power as the dictator, the whole world except of course for the American president who not only stood by Mr. Hussein he sent people with gifts to show his support. While the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan it was our policy to not get involved, if only we had stuck with that policy. The USA decided to arm a small group of afgan fighters to help defeat the Soviet union, with the help of the Americans the group was able to defeat the Soviets. The man that we decided to aid in the fight was Osama Bin Laden, we aided him with weapons and training and after he won the war the first thing that America he asked for help in rebuilding his country. Rather then admit we helped them win the war and to rebuild we turned our back on them. Who would have know the man we where once allies with would plan and execute the worst attack on American soil, leading us into war in a country we where allies with and helped just 15 years earlier. The attack by Bin Laden and the horrible policies by the Bush administration lead us into two wars and cost us trillions of dollars and thousands of lives, all of which could have been prevented if the great Ronald Reagan was even a competent leader.
This doesn’t even take into account his horrible record on AIDS, financial regulations, immigration policy that made millions of illegal aliens legal and other issues that history has shown him on the wrong side of. If you want to know when the American dream died look no further then Mr. Reagan, he may not have killed it but had a big hand in its demise. If you look at almost all the problems we are facing today the majority can be traced back to bad decisions made by the Republican president in the 1980’s, the man who many of the republican party today see as their idol and role model.
So when did it all change? The answer to that question is simple, about 30 years ago America elected the worst president in the great history of our country. His decisions would lead to the destruction of the middle class and his terrible choices would be felt for years to come. In 1980 the people of this great country decided to elect Ronald Reagan, a charismatic leader who they thought could put America back on the right track. While he made many, many mistakes here are just a few that would change the course of our history forever.
Trickle down economics, he gave huge tax cuts to the richest Americans with the belief that they would pass the money around. While the theory was sound he didn’t account for greed and instead of passing the money around the rich just used it to get richer while the poor suffered. For 30 year the working class and poor have stayed that way while the rich just keep getting richer. With the price of everything going up Americans could no longer afford to have only one parent work and the Nuclear family was destroyed, now both parents had to work just to be able to lead the same lifestyle that they led just 10 years earlier. The tax breaks blew a huge hole in the money the government received causing America to become a debt nation.
While the economic policy was a nail in the coffin of the American middle class his foreign policy while applauded at the time would come back to bite him and the rest of the world in the ass. While he is credited with the downfall of the Soviet Union many educated people think they where on the verge of falling and he was just lucky enough to be the man in charge when it happened. While he spent trillions of dollars that the government didn’t have to build the biggest army in the world he was afraid to use it and that to would come back to haunt us. Again here are just a few of his foreign policy decisions that effect us today.
He cut and ran from Lebanon when soldiers started to die, showing the world that we where weak and that when push came to shove we would cut and run. President Reagan then oversaw the sale of weapons to Iran, the money from the sale was then funded into terrorists hands, making one wonder if the weapons Iran is giving to people killing Americans are the same weapons that Mr. Reagan put in their hands? While those events where bad, his worst decisions wouldn’t be felt for years after he left office.
Iraq was becoming a threat to it’s own people and the people in the middle east, after attacks on his own people the world wanted Saddam Hussein out of power as the dictator, the whole world except of course for the American president who not only stood by Mr. Hussein he sent people with gifts to show his support. While the Soviet Union was fighting in Afghanistan it was our policy to not get involved, if only we had stuck with that policy. The USA decided to arm a small group of afgan fighters to help defeat the Soviet union, with the help of the Americans the group was able to defeat the Soviets. The man that we decided to aid in the fight was Osama Bin Laden, we aided him with weapons and training and after he won the war the first thing that America he asked for help in rebuilding his country. Rather then admit we helped them win the war and to rebuild we turned our back on them. Who would have know the man we where once allies with would plan and execute the worst attack on American soil, leading us into war in a country we where allies with and helped just 15 years earlier. The attack by Bin Laden and the horrible policies by the Bush administration lead us into two wars and cost us trillions of dollars and thousands of lives, all of which could have been prevented if the great Ronald Reagan was even a competent leader.
This doesn’t even take into account his horrible record on AIDS, financial regulations, immigration policy that made millions of illegal aliens legal and other issues that history has shown him on the wrong side of. If you want to know when the American dream died look no further then Mr. Reagan, he may not have killed it but had a big hand in its demise. If you look at almost all the problems we are facing today the majority can be traced back to bad decisions made by the Republican president in the 1980’s, the man who many of the republican party today see as their idol and role model.
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